Mine Detonators Discovered On South Hill Property

SOUTH HILL, WA — It started as a mundane spring-cleaning, but ended with the bomb squad and Army being called to a South Hill home.

According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, a South Hill homeowner discovered mine detonation components hidden in his backyard this weekend.

On Sunday, the homeowner had been cleaning up his property in the 15300 block 121st Ave Ct E.

That's when he found some weird canisters buried under yard waste behind his shed. He later told deputies that, at first, he thought they might have been old flower pots, and was planning to haul them to the dump.

But curiosity got the better of them, so he used a grinder to crack one canister open. When he found the curious machinery inside he phoned a friend, who urged him to call 911.

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department dispatched a bomb tech to investigate, who quickly found that the canisters were not explosives, but components used to detonate mines.

The Army was then called in to fetch the canisters.

Deputies say the homeowner had not owned the property very long, and the canisters likely belonged to the previous owners.